Stanley’s world slowly came into focus as he opened his eyes, trying to get his bearings when all he could see was miles of desert in all directions. He spit out sandy dirt and slowly sat up, shaking his head in an attempt to make sense of the madness of this situation.

How in the world did he get here?

Wincing from the sudden pain all that thinking was causing, Stanley lifted a hand to gingerly touch the goose egg size lump on the back of his head. Whoever it was that clobbered him must have come out of nowhere because he couldn’t remember a thing after the restaurant…

Jessie!

The thought of her made him jerk to his knees, only to fall back to the ground as the vertigo made the sand and the mountains in the distance swirl around in some kind of crazy dance. Holding his head in his hands, Stanley waited for the world to stop spinning before slowly standing up.

The last thing he could remember was telling Jessie he would be right back as he made his way to the bathroom. That night’s gig was over and it had gone over pretty well…all except for the one dude who didn’t care much for his cracks about the gangsters building Las Vegas for themselves back in the day. Nothing to get your knickers in a twist over, but Stanley could see the guy was getting madder by the minute so he quickly went onto his other jokes and the rest of his routine had the audience laughing in their seats.

Come to think of it, Stanley could vaguely remember that same guy sitting near the bathroom entrance as he stepped inside. Was that wacko really that mad to drag him out here and leave him? Right now, it probably didn’t matter. All that mattered was where was he and how the heck was he going to get back home alive?

Now it’s your turn! How did Stanley end up in the desert in the first place? And will he make it out alive? Add to the story or start one of your own on the comments below…

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International best selling, award-winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound (a YA fantasy), is now available in eBook and print form from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, and other online retailers.

People say, “Don’t open the door to strangers.” But you never hear anyone say, “Don’t open the door to STRANGE.”

Someone should have warned me.

The old Clemmons house sat on the end of a dead-end street at the edge of town. Kinda fitting…I mean, the whole “dead” part.

When Dad and I moved to this one horse town six months ago, the realtor told Dad this house was a nice, fixer-upper. I tried telling Dad the place gave me the creeps, but as usual, he was too wrapped up in making a new start after Mom left us to listen to a quiet, shy ten year old boy.

“This will be a great project for the two of us,” he said. Does he not remember when the two of us tried to build a tree house at our old place? Try explaining to a seven year old why he can’t go swimming that summer because he’s wearing a stupid cast on his leg!

The first week we stayed here, I chalked up all weird noises I heard to just the whistling wind and an old, shifting foundation. But last night after Dad fell asleep watching some rerun on TV, I decided to go to bed early. Tomorrow was my first day at a new school and I wasn’t really looking forward to being the new geek in town.

Quickly getting changed, I jumped into bed and pulled the covers over my head before snaking a hand out to quickly turn off the bedside lamp. At first I thought I would be able to fall asleep without too much trouble. 

But then I heard it.

Not the usual moans and groans of an old house settling in for the night. This was more of a whisper of a knocking…a soft thumping…coming from somewhere outside the safety of flannel sheets. I was hoping it was maybe Dad running into a table on his way to bed, but when the sound started up again, I knew it wasn’t him.

This time when I hear the knocking, I can feel my heart start pounding to match its rhythm.

Where was the noise coming from?

“Stop being such a scaredy-cat!” I whisper to myself before peeking out from under the covers. It is louder now and actually sounds like it’s coming from somewhere inside my room.

I actually feel my breath catch in my throat to mix with bile when I realize where it is coming from.

It’s coming from inside my bedroom walls…

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International best selling, award-winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound (a YA fantasy), is now available in eBook and print form from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, and other online retailers.

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